Mama June Shannon’s Granddaughter Custody Battle, Explained

The Big Picture

• Kaitlyn Elizabeth’s custody is in question after her mother Chickadee’s passing, leading to a legal battle between Mama June and Cardwell.
• Mama June claims Michael Cardwell abused her granddaughter in the past, adding complexity to the custody situation.
• Anna Cardwell’s daughter Kaitlyn Elizabeth wants to live with Mama June, as revealed in an affidavit to the court.

Following the death of her daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell after a long battle with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma, reality star Mama June Shannon is currently embroiled in a legal controversy surrounding one of her grandchildren. Chickadee left behind her husband, Michael Cardwell, and two children after passing away at the age of 29. And now, her eldest daughter Kaitlyn Elizabeth‘s custody is in question. In Mama June: Family Crisis Season 6, the audience got to see the family bid farewell to Chickadee. However, before she passed away, Mama June tried to convince her to put a formal custody agreement in place for Kaitlyn, considering that the identity of her father remains unknown to this day.

Chickadee has two daughters, Kaitlyn Elizabeth, 11, and Kylee Madison Cardwell, 8, whom she shares with her husband. After her death, Chickadee’s youngest daughter has been living with her father, Michael Cardwell. Legally, the custody of a minor is awarded to the biological father by default in the case of the biological mother passing away. However, since Chickadee never revealed the identity of her firstborn’s father, the situation has gotten a little complicated. While Mama June Shannon reportedly took Kaitlyn Elizabeth in after her daughter’s death, Michael Cardwell has filed a lawsuit against her for Kaitlyn’s custody. This has led to a full-blown legal battle between the two parties, with the fate of the young girl hanging in the air.

Cardwell Believes He Is the Only Living Person Who Cares About the Child’s Well-Being

A few days after Chickadee’s death on December 9, 2023, the court granted Shannon temporary custody of her granddaughter. The court documents also stated that Shannon was seeking “temporary and permanent sole physical and sole legal custody” of the young girl. The reality mom claimed that her granddaughter moved in with her a month before Anna Cardwell passed away and that she has been caring for the tween since then. However, that didn’t last for very long, since on December 17, 2023, Michael Cardwell filed a lawsuit against Mama June for the young girl’s custody.

According to the court documents obtained by In Touch, Cardwell claimed that he had been a part of Kaitlyn Elizabeth’s life for a long time. Their relationship continued even after Cardwell and Chickadee’s divorce and Cardwell argued that he has “fully and completely undertaken a permanent, equivocal, committed and responsible parental role” in Kaitlyn Elizabeth’s life, establishing a bond with her. Cardwell also revealed that he was still paying for the young girl’s schooling and has been her caretaker for a while now.

He concluded that he was the “only living person that has shown a constant and continuous interest in the minor child’s well-being,” adding that he wanted both the sisters to continue living together. According to the documents, Mama June was served the notice on December 17, 2023. However, she spoke to TMZ and claimed that she hadn’t received any legal papers. At the same time, Shannon vowed to see Cardwell in court and said that she was ready to battle it out with him.

Chickadee and Mama June’s Strained Relationship Complicates the Situation

But what took people by surprise was Cardwell’s surprising revelations about the strained relationship between Mama June and Chickadee. Anna Cardwell’s former husband shared that the former reality star was raised by her maternal grandmother in Griffin and that Chickadee only returned to Mama June’s home when she was 17. The court documents detail their relationship in these exact words: “Anna has had a very sordid relationship with her mother throughout her life and went various periods of time without speaking to her. Likewise, June’s presence in the minor child’s life has been inconsistent.”

Rumor has it that Cardwell is also planning on bringing Mama June’s ex, Mike ‘Sugar Bear’ Thompson, to testify against her in court. The two split up in 2014, but Sugar Bear continued to appear on Shannon’s WeTV shows. Sugar Bear was Anna Cardwell’s stepdad for a while and allegedly witnessed her fractured relationship with Shannon. According to an insider who spoke to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Sugar Bear will testify about the long periods of estrangement between Chickadee and Mama June to prove that she is not fit to raise Kaitlyn Elizabeth.

Mama June Claims Cardwell Abused Her Granddaughter in the Past

Shannon also claimed that the minor wants to live with her and her husband, Justin Stroud, and forcing a change in custody would be going against her wishes. The reality mom also claimed that Anna Cardwell wanted her daughter to live with her grandmother and added that Michael Cardwell knew of this plan beforehand. “At the end of the day, the girls have lost their mother so why put them through this,” Mama June added, trying to fortify her side of the argument. In a turn of events, she was granted emergency temporary custody of the young girl in January 2024 over Cardwell, who claimed that he was ready to pursue the case even further.

But that’s where things took a horrific turn. In the same month, In Touch reported that Mama June had filed a lawsuit and accused Cardwell of physically abusing Chickadee while they were married. Shannon claimed that Cardwell was an unsuitable guardian for her granddaughter and added that his abuse would often also extend to Kaitlyn Elizabeth. In the filing, Mama June also asked for Cardwell’s petition to be denied and dismissed. However, in response, Cardwell’s attorney, Donald Lewis Roberts, denied the claims against his client. He shared that Cardwell had a great relationship with Chickadee and the two of them only separated due to differences in personalities.

Chickadee Had Her Own Plans for Her Daughter

During Mama June: Family Crisis Season 6, Episode 22, which aired on June 21, 2024, Anna Cardwell revealed what she wanted for her daughters after she passed away. The former reality star confessed that she wanted her firstborn to go to Eldrige Toney, whom she had married in March 2023, right after her cancer diagnosis. While Toney wasn’t the biological father of either child, Chickadee wanted him to get custody of Kaitlyn Elizabeth.

Anna Cardwell claimed that she knew Toney could do it, and that she just needed to push him to take on the responsibility. However, in the same episode, she is seen arguing with Mama June Shannon about her decision. During the argument, Shannon claims that the young girl would be better off with her since she could give her stability. However, since Eldridge Toney had been in the child’s life since she was five years old, Chickadee thought he was the better choice. But of course, Mama June had her doubts.

Following Chickadee’s death, during Mama June: Family Crisis Season 6, Episode 24, Shannon revealed that Toney had come to the decision that the Kaitlyn Elizabeth would be better off with her grandmother. Not to mention that Toney had no legal claim on the young girl since he had not adopted her. In an interview with People, Toney shared that he was going to remain an important part of both the girls’ lives. He revealed that he has continued to visit both of them as much as he can. But it’s easier for him to see Kaitlyn Elizabeth since she continues to live with Mama June, while it’s harder for him to see Chickadee’s younger daughter as she lives with her father.

Kaitlyn Elizabeth Has Announced Her Decision to the Court

After all this, the custody battle took a new turn when Anna Cardwell’s 11-year-old daughter filed an affidavit in court and revealed that she wants to live with her grandmother. The young girl expressed her desire to live with Mama June and requested not to be forced to have visitation with Michael Cardwell. The minor added that she wished to speak to the judge to let him know of her wishes as soon as possible. Mama June supported her granddaughter’s decision and also requested an “in-camera review” from the Department of Family and Children Services after claiming that Cardwell abused the minor.

Legally, minors involved in a custody battle have the right to select who they want to live with when they are 14 or olderin the state of Georgia. However, since Kaitlyn Elizabeth is only 11, she can only file an election in court to express who she prefers to live with. Now, during the custody hearing, her statement will be presented to the judge before a final decision is made.

Mama June and Michael Cardwell were scheduled to return to court in July 2024. However, no recent updates on the case have been filed yet.

Mama June: Family Crisis is available to stream on Philo in the U.S.

Watch on Philo